The PSNet Collection

Medication/Drug Errors

The medication-use process is highly complex with many steps and risk points for error, and those errors are a key target for improving safety. This Library reflects a curated selection of PSNet content focused on medication and drug errors. Included resources explore understanding harms from preventable medication use, medication safety improvement strategies, and resources for design.

To eliminate bias, some seek out doctors of their own race or ethnicity.

Glicksman E. Washington Post. December 11, 2021.

A successful patient/physician relationship enables care that is specific for the individual, their unique concerns, and distinct lifestyles. This article discusses patient choice in physicians as a strategy to reduce the impact of implicit ethnic bias, while arguing that fundamental change will occur only by reducing racism through system change.

How nursing homes’ worst offenses are hidden from the public.

Gebeloff R, Thomas K, Silver-Greenberg J. New York Times. December 9, 2021.

Nursing homes harbor numerous challenges to patient safety and they should be transparently reported and acted upon to ensure improvement. This news investigation discusses a gap in the reporting and inspection of nursing home incidents that undermines the ability of the US nursing home rating system to inform consumer long term care facility choice.

Adverse glycemic events and critical emergencies.

Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. December 2, 2021;(24)1-4.

Insulin is a high-alert medication that requires extra attention to safely manage blood sugar levels in chronic or acutely ill patients. This alert highlights look-alike/sound-alike packaging, delayed medication reconciliation, and dietary monitoring gaps as threats to safe insulin administration in emergencies. Recommendations for improvement are provided for both general in-hospital, and post-discharge care.

Pointing fingers: verbosity of patient safety narratives is associated with attribution of blame.

Ackerman RS, Patel SY, Costache M, et al. Anesthesiology News. November 21, 2021.

Blame is known to limit discussions of near-misses and failures, which negatively impacts learning and incident reduction. This article describes work to examine blameful context present in anesthesiology incident documentation, reducing its viability as a successful investigation record. Length of text was identified as an enabler of blameful orientation, and limitations as to word count were one strategy to minimize the use of punitive language.

Her husband died by suicide. She sued his pain doctors—a rare challenge over an opioid dose reduction.

Joseph A. Stat News. November 22, 2021

The opioid epidemic has put regulatory and professional pressures on the tapering of pain medications that have had unintended consequences for patients resulting in harm. This news story discusses how one family used legal means to address systemic gaps and clinical missteps that resulted in patient suicide due to lack of appropriate pain control.

How low can they go? Rural hospitals weigh keeping obstetric units when births decline.

Huff C. Kaiser Health News. November 12, 2021.

This article discusses the challenge of providing safe maternity care in rural environments when demand for service cannot support its cost, and keeping teams actively experienced in provision of reliable maternal care.

When we're all responsible for a patient's death, no one is.

Prasad V, Medpage Today. November 16, 2021.

The issue of system versus individual accountability can challenge the orientation of safety improvement efforts. This opinion piece discusses the importance of physician recognition of decision making mistakes and the downside of the evolution of morbidity and mortality conferences away from that approach.

Patients went into the hospital for care. After testing positive there for Covid, some never came out.

Jewett C. Kaiser Health News. November 4, 2021.

Nosocomial infection is a primary concern due to the COVID pandemic. This news story examines instances when inpatients contracted, and sometimes died of, COVID-19 while receiving care for a different condition. It summarizes the challenges associated with collecting adequate data that completely document nosocomial spread of COVID-19 and its impact on patient outcomes.

Prevent errors during emergency use of hypertonic sodium chloride solutions.

ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. November 4, 2021;26(22); 1-4.

Delays in diagnosis and treatment during life-threatening emergencies such as strokes can result in irreversible patient harm. This article discusses a variety of factors contributing to errors in administering hypertonic sodium chloride in emergent situations. The piece shares recommendations touching on various elements of the medication delivery process to enhance safety.

ERs are swamped with seriously ill patients, although many don’t have Covid.

Wells K. Health Shots. National Public Radio. October 29, 2021.

Emergency department (ED) crowding stemming from treatment delays and deferrals resulting from COVID concerns is an emerging problem. This article discusses how ED crowding affects patients and clinical teams to reduce safety and effectiveness.

Challenges with requiring five characters during ADC drug searches via override.

ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. October 21, 2021;26(21):1-3.

Shortcuts in automated data entry behaviors have potential to result in errors. This article discusses search term length requirements for automated dispensing cabinets and the importance of doing a proactive failure analysis prior to implementing any system conditions to minimize unintended consequences of the rules that could detract from safety.

‘They treat me like I’m old and stupid’: seniors decry health providers’ age bias.

Graham J. Kaiser Health News. October 20, 2021.

Implicit biases permeate decision making and can impede safe and effective diagnosis and treatment. This story examines how ageism results in undertreatment, mistakes, poor communication and care rationing.

Anatomy of a medical device recall: How defective products can slip through an outdated system.

Zipp R. Medical Tech Dive. October 18, 2021.

This article highlights systems influences that detract from the effectiveness of current methods of reporting recalled unsafe medical devices and raising awareness of recalls for clinicians, patients and families. Challenges highlighted include the use of paper-based notification systems and data reporting delays.

Disrespectful behavior in healthcare: has it improved? Please take our survey!

ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. September 9, 2021;26(18);1-5.

Disrespectful behavior is a persistent contributor to failures in medical care. This article summarizes influences that enable the acceptance and perpetuation of unprofessional behaviors and calls for data to assess its presence and impact in health care environments. The deadline for survey participation is now closed.

Mix-ups between the influenza (Flu) vaccine and COVID-19 vaccines.

ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute care edition. October 7, 2021;26(20):1-4.

Production pressure and low staff coverage can result in medication mistakes in community pharmacies. This article shares reported vaccine errors and factors contributing to mistaken administration of flu and COVID vaccines. Storage, staffing and collaboration strategies are shared to protect against vaccine mistakes.

The less-discussed consequence of healthcare's labor shortage.

Bean M, Masson G. Becker's Hospital Review. October 4, 2021.

Staffing shortages can impact the safety of care by enabling burnout, care omission, and staff attrition. This article discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated an examination of how staffing challenges affect areas such as diagnosis, infection control, and organizational patient safety focus.

How to seek care for non-covid health issues during the pandemic, and why you shouldn’t delay.

Bever L, Chiu A. Washington Post. September 16, 2021.

Throughout the COVID pandemic, patients have shown reluctance to seek medical care, which contributes to delayed diagnoses and treatments for non-COVID conditions. This news story suggests actions for patients to take to keep themselves safe from harm while accessing care during uncertain times.

Open Notes shines light on errors in patient medical records — will the new rule lead to a flood of correction requests?

Clark C. MedPage Today. September 14, 2021.

Patients who have access to their records often find errors that need to be corrected. This story highlights recent US policy changes requiring patient access to their records and explores the impact that requests for changes could have on getting records fixed to ensure accurate information is available to inform future care decisions.

Phony diagnoses hide high rates of drugging at nursing homes.

Thomas K, Gebeloff R, Silver-Greenberg J. New York Times. September 11, 2021.

Nursing home medication misuse is a contributor to resident harm. This story highlights system influences such as staffing shortages, reporting failures and normalization of prescribing behaviors that coincide with the misuse of antipsychotic medications and overdiagnosis of schizophrenia.

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